From Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program

In the tradition of early American storytellers, Chris Larson spins yarns. Rather than words and music however, he tells his tales through large-scale sculpture and film. At the center of the exhibition is Crush Collision, his fourth film with producer Jason Spafford and sound designer Alex Oana. The twelve-minute film, which takes place in a house floating on the water, is a complex examination of the dualities of human existence. Accompanying the film is the 16 x 14 foot, 2-story house that spent the winter frozen in the lake where the film was made.

Larson’s collisions from America’s past, present, and future cultures present a conversation among different and similar worlds. Where people, ideals, thoughts, race, beliefs, art, religions and politics are constantly colliding, Larson smashes them together to see what unfolds.

Related Materials

Your Comments Here

Loved it, loved it, loved it.

Through hitting us over the head with mundane processes, Mr. Larson leads us into a re-appreciation of mechanism as narrative. A meta-narrative of the endless cycle of life from clay to clay. Condensed time-based performance and the detourned familiarity of the house on the water and burnt in the gallery contribute to the familiar/unfamiliar countdown to ekstasis from this clay. The final out-of-body experience through the intense physio-spiritual involvement of the players harvesting the clay and blessing their meal is its own reward. Like the accumualted skin and dirt on a guitarist's fret, life is in the details.
-Sean Smuda, former panelist.

Related Events

Opening Reception: Thursday, November 16 from 7 pm to 9 pm in the MAEP galleries. Music by The Spiritual Knights.

Artist Led Tour: Thursday, November 30 at 7 pm in the MAEP galleries.

Critics' Trialogue: Thursday, December 7 at 7 pm in the MAEP galleries with Kris Douglas.